Rotating disks slot machine

ABSTRACT

Gaming apparatus has rotatable disks turning about a common axis of rotation and having annular bands of indicia of different diameters on faces of the disks which extend toward the axis of rotation. A player&#39;s winnings are determined by alignment of particular indicia along one or mofe radii of the disks after a period of rotation. In one form of the invention, the disks are supported, driven and held in a centered relationship with the axis of rotation by gear sets situated at angular intervals around the periphery of the disks which engage gear teeth at the rims of the disks. In another form, the disks are axially spaced apart flat plates of progressively greater diameter extending from drive shafting at the axis of rotation. In another form, the disks are at least partially formed of transparent material enabling viewing of indicia on disks which are behind other disks.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/638,666, filed on Aug. 14, 2000. Thatapplication is a continuation application of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/212,108, filed on Dec. 15, 1998, now U.S. Pat.No. 6,105,962 and is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/527,705, filed on Mar. 17, 2000, which claimspriority of provisional patent application No. 60/126,052, filed on Mar.23, 1999.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to amusement devices and more particularly togaming apparatus of the type in which a player's score or winnings isdetermined by rotatable members which carry indicia and which separatelyspin about a common axis and then come to rest at any of a plurality ofdifferent angular orientations to determine the player's score orwinnings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The traditional slot machine has a series of annular reels disposed inside by side relationship that rotate separately about a common axis.Player's scores or winnings are indicated by indicia on the peripheralsurfaces of the reels which may align in any of a number of differentcombinations following a period of rotation of the reels. Players ofgaming apparatus typically find it enjoyable to have a variety ofdifferent forms of gaming apparatus available. For this purpose, slotmachines of the spinning reel type have been provided with a variety ofdifferent graphics, cabinet configurations and other variedembellishments such as varying visual or sound effects and differingscoring systems for example. Modification of slot machines of this kindto enhance player enjoyment are circumscribed if the above describedbasic geometry of mechanical components of the apparatus is retained.The side by side reel arrangement has in the past imparted anundesirable degree of similarity to slot machines of this typenotwithstanding the superficial variations of the above described kind.

It has heretofore been proposed to make a basic change in the geometryof the slot machine by replacing the side by side reels with concentricrotating disks which turn about a common axis and which face theoperator of the slot machine. Annular bands of differing indicia onfaces of the disks are of progressively greater diameter. A player'sscore is determined by alignment of particular combinations of theindicia along a payline which extends radially relative to the axis ofrotation of the disks. As heretofore envisioned, slot machines of thiskind have required an undesirably complex construction in order tosupport and drive the disks and to position the faces of the disks in acoplanar relationship.

The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of theproblems discussed above.

SUMMARY OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides gaming apparatus having aplurality of rotatable disks centered on a common axis of rotation, eachdisk being separately rotatable about the axis of rotation. Each diskhas an annular band of indicia thereon which encircles the axis ofrotation. A player's score is determined by arrival of particularindicia at particular locations following a period of rotation of thedisks. The band of indicia of each disk is on a face of the disk whichextends inward toward the axis of rotation. Each disk has a peripheralregion which of greater diameter than the band of indicia on the diskand preferably each has an annular band of gear teeth at the peripheralregion of the disk, which band of gear teeth is centered on the axis ofrotation. Preferably, each band of gear of teeth is engaged by aseparate one of a plurality of drive gears and a separate one of aplurality of drive motors is coupled to each drive gear to turn thegear.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gaming apparatus furtherincludes a plurality of disk positioning gear sets situated at theperipheries of the rotatable disks at intervals around the axis ofrotation thereof. Each gear set includes a motor driven shaft with oneof the drive gears being on the shaft and being rotated thereby and aplurality of idler gears on the driven shaft which are rotatablerelative to the shaft. The drive gear of each gear set engages the gearteeth of a separate one of the rotatable disks. The idler gears of eachgear set engage the teeth of the ones of the rotatable disks that arenot engaged by the drive gear of the drive gear set. Thus the gear setsat the peripheries of the rotatable disks preferably support andposition the disks in addition to driving the disks.

Another aspect the invention preferably provides gaming apparatus havinga plurality of disks which are centered on a comnnon axis of rotation,each disk being separately rotatable about the axis of rotation. Eachdisk has an annular band of indicia thereon which encircles the axis ofrotation, the indicia being on faces of the disks which extend inwardstowards the axis of rotation. A player's score is determined by arrivalof particular indicia at particular locations following a period ofrotation of the disks. Each disk is supported by a separate one of aplurality of telescoped drive shafts which preferably extend along theaxis of rotation and a separate drive motor is coupled to each saiddrive shafts. The faces of the disks at which the bands of indicia arelocated preferably are spaced apart in a direction parallel to the axisof rotation.

In still another aspect, the invention preferably provides gamingapparatus having a plurality of rotatable members which are centered ona common axis rotation, each of the rotatable members being separatelyrotatable about the axis of rotation. Each rotatable member has anannular band of indicia thereon which encircles the axis of rotation,and a player's score is determined by arrival of a particular indicia atparticular locations following a period of rotation of the rotatablemembers. The annular band of indicia of each rotatable member is on aface of the member which extends inward towards the axis of rotationfrom the perimeter of the member. The annular bands of indicia of therotatable members are of differing diameters, and portions of at leastone rotatable member are in front of the annular band of indicia ofanother rotatable member. At least portions of the rotatable member thatare in front of the annular band of indicia of another rotatable memberare formed preferably of transparent material.

The invention preferably is applicable to a form of gaming apparatuswhich enhances players' enjoyment, as it has a configuration that isdistinctly different from traditional slot machines in which indicia aresituated on side by side reels. The player views the faces of rotatingdisks rather than the peripheral surfaces of side by side reels. Indiciaalign radially relative to the axis of rotation rather than in parallelrelation to the axis of rotation as in the traditional slot machine. Thegeneral appearance of the moving components during operation isdistinctly different from that of the traditional slot machine. Thesefactors preferably create an intriguing ambiance for players of slotmachines. The invention preferably provides a simplified andadvantageous construction for the disks and disk support, positioningand driving mechanism in gaming apparatus of this kind.

Various embodiments of the invention, together with further aspects andadvantages thereof, may be further understood by reference to thefollowing description of the preferred embodiments and by reference tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slot machine embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevation section view of the upper portion of theapparatus of FIG. 1 taken along the axis of rotation of rotarycomponents of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a broken out top view of the upper portion of the slot machineof FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a section view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and whichdepicts a first gear set of the slot machine.

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3 and whichdepicts a second gear set of the slot machine.

FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 3 and whichdepicts a third gear set of the slot machine.

FIG. 7 is a broken out side view of the upper portion of a slot machineshowing a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a vertical section view of the portion of the mechanism ofFIG. 7 that is enclosed by dashed line 8 thereof.

FIG. 9 is a front elevation view of the upper portion of a thirdembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a broken out side view of the upper portion of the thirdembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a slot machine 11in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention has a pluralityof rotatable disks which in this example include a front disk 13, anintermediate disk 14 and a rear disk 15 which turn about a common axisof rotation 16 and which have front surfaces 17 which extend inward fromthe peripheries of the disks towards the axis of rotation. The disks 13,14 and 15 of this example have similar outer diameters. The front disk13 is annular with an open center defined by a hub portion 18 of thedisk from which the front surface 17 extends in a radially outwarddirection. Intermediate disk 14 is also annular and has a hub portion 18of smaller diameter than the hub portion of the front disk 13. The reardisk 15 of this example is a flat plate which has no center opening anda conical projection 18 a extends from the center of the plate fordecorative reasons. These disk configurations enable viewing of anannular region of the front surface 17 of each of the disks by a playerwho is situated in front of the slot machine 11.

Indicia 19 are imprinted on the visible annular regions 17 of each ofthe disks 13, 14 and 15 and are arranged in annular bands of indiciawhich are centered on the axis of rotation 16, which are ofprogressively increasing diameter and which are preferably adjacent toor close to each other in the radial direction on the disks. Individualindicia 19 of each of the disks 13, 14 and 15 are spaced at equalangular intervals around the axis of rotation 16. The indicia 19 of eachdisk 13, 14 and 15 are of a plurality of different designs. The designsmay, for example, be the traditional bars, bells, cherries, plums andthe like that are found on many prior slot machines or may be othersymbols, such as numerals or letters that are distinct from each other.As in other slot machines, a players winnings or score if any isdetermined by the particular indicia 19 that come to rest or intoalignment at a particular location following a period of rotation of thebands of indicia. In contrast to the traditional reel type of slotmachine, the payline 20 at which such alignments occur extends radiallyrelative to the axis of rotation 16 rather than in parallel relationshipwith the axis of rotation. In further contrast to a traditional slotmachine, it is possible to have more than one payline 20 as all of theindicia 19 can be visible to the player at the same time.

The disks 13, 14 and 15 of this example are housed in a cabinet 21behind a transparent circular window 22 of the cabinet. The outermostregions of the disks 13, 14 and 15 are concealed by an annular bezelmember 23 situated immediately behind the window 22 and which curvesrearwardly towards the front disk 13. Referring to FIG. 1 in particular,the slot machine 11 may have a coin receiver 24, a start play switchbutton 25 and an open coin payout chamber 26. Coin receiver 24 may bereplaced with or supplemented by a paper currency or charge cardvalidator and the button switch 24 may be replaced with or supplementedby a switch that is operated by manually pivoting an arm in the mannerof the traditional slot machine. A display window 27 situated below thevisible portions of the disks 13, 14, 16 or elsewhere may displaywinning combinations of indicia to the player. An electronic displayscreen 28 of the kind which produces changeable images may be providedon the front of cabinet 21 to display winning combinations of indiciawhen they occur. The coin receiver 24 and coin processing mechanism 29may be of one of the known forms. Switch button 25 and the electricalcomponents of the slot machine 11 which respond to operation of theswitch may also be of conventional form except as hereinafter described.The slot machine 11 may be embellished with lights, bells and/or othervisual and audio effects in the manner known to the art.

Referring jointly to FIGS. 2 and 3, the periphery of each of therotatable disks 13, 14 and 15 is provided with gear teeth 31. The disks13, 14 and 15 are positioned, supported and driven by a compact andsimple mechanism which includes three gear sets 32 a, 32 b and 32 cwhich engage gear teeth 31. The gear sets 32 a, 32 b and 32 c aresituated adjacent to the peripheral region of the disks 13, 14 and 15and are angularly spaced apart relative to the axis of rotation 16 ofthe disks. The angular interval between the gear sets 32 a, 32 b and 32c around the axis of rotation 16 is less than 180° for reasons whichwill hereinafter be discussed and is preferably 120° as in thisparticular example of the invention.

A pair of spaced apart circular support plates, including a forwardsupport plate 33 and rear support plate 34, extend vertically within theupper region of cabinet 21 behind the rotatable disks 13, 14 and 15.Bolts 35 secure the two support plates together. Referring jointly toFIGS. 2 and 4, each of the gear sets 32 a, 32 b and 32 c has a rotatabledrive shaft 36 which extends from a back end bearing 37 mounted in therear support plate 34 through a bushing 38 mounted in the forwardsupport plate 33 to a front end bearing 39 mounted in an annular frontstructural member 41 which is situated immediately behind the bezel 23and which has an open center to enable viewing of the disks 13, 14, 15.The drive shaft 36 of each gear set 32 a, 32 b and 32 c is driven by aseparate one of three electric motors 42 a, 42 b and 42 c which aresituated behind the rear support plate 34 and secured to that supportplate. Each such motor 42 a, 42 b and 42 c turns a motor output gear 43situated between the forward and rear support plates 33 and 34 and whichengages a smaller driven gear 44 situated on the drive shaft 36 of theassociated one of the gear sets 32 a, 32 b and 32 c at a locationbetween the support plates. The drive shafts 36 are constrained torotate with the driven gears 44 in this example by keys 46 within thedriven gears which seat in longitudinal keyway slots 47 that extendalong each drive shaft. Alternately, the driven gears 44 may be lockedto the drive shafts 36 by set screws or other means known to the art.

Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 in conjunction, each of the gear sets 32a, 32 b and 32 c has three disk support gears disposed along the driveshaft 36 including a frort support gcar 48, an intermediate support gear49 and a rear support gear 51. The front support gear 48 engages theteeth 31 of front rotatable disk 13, intermediate support gear 49engages the teeth 31 of intermediate rotatable disk 14 and the rearsupport gear 51 engages the teeth 31 of the rear rotatable disk 15. Thesupport gears 48, 49 and 51 are of equal outer diameter in this exampleof the invention and are proportioned to abut against each other. Atubular sleeve 52 is disposed on each drive shaft 36 in coaxialrelationship therewith and extends between bushing 38 and the rearsupport gear 51 to hold the support gears at the locations along theshaft at which they engage the rotatable disks 13, 14 and 15.

Provided that the angular interval between successive ones of the threegear sets 32 a, 32 b and 32 c around the axis of rotation of therotatable disks 13, 14 and 15 is less than 180° as previously described,the support gears 48, 49 and 51 act to hold each of the disks in acentered relationship relative to the axis of rotation. The gear sets 32a, 32 b and 32 c also function to rotate each of the disks 13, 14 and15. In particular as shown in FIG. 4, at gear set 32 a the front supportgear 48 is constrained to rotate with drive shaft 36 by an internal key53 which seats in the drive shaft keyway slot 47. The other two supportgears 49 and 51 at gear set 32 a are idler gears which are free torotate relative to the drive shaft 36. Thus the first gear set 32 a bothsupports and drives the front rotatable disk 13 while serving only as asupport for the other rotatable disks 14 and 15.

At the second gear set 32 b, as shown in FIG. 5, it is the intermediatesupport gear 49 that is constrained to rotate with drive shaft 36 by aninternal key 53 while the front and rear support gears 48 and 51 areidler gears that may turn relative to the shaft. Thus the second gearset 32 b drives the intermediate rotatable disk 14 while also serving asa support for the other two rotatable disks 13 and 15.

With reference to FIG. 6, at the third gear set 32 c the rear supportgear 51 is constrained to rotate with drive shaft 36 by an internal key53 with the front and intermediate support gears 48 and 49 being freeturning relative to the shaft. Accordingly the third gear set drives therear rotatable disk 15 while functioning as a support for the other tworotatable disks 13 and 14.

Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 3, the disks and disk support and drivemechanism are unitized by connectors 35 which extend from the annularfront structural member 41 to the circular front support plate 33 andthe assembly has a maximum diameter that enables insertion andwithdrawal of the unitized mechanism through the window opening 22 a atthe front of cabinet 21 upon removal of the window 22 itself. Thisfacilitates assembly and repairing of the slot machine. The unitizedmechanism is positioned at its back end by a support bracket 50 whichextends from rear support plate 34 into a socket 55 which is secured tothe rear wall of cabinet 21.

With continued reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the disk drive motors 42 a,42 b and 42 c are preferably controlled by a microprocessor circuit,contained within a circuit housing 54, which may be of the known designthat is commonly used in conventional modern slot machines. The motors42 a, 42 b and 42 c are brake gear motors of the known stepping formwhich separately rotate each disk 13, 14 and 15 through a predeterminednumber of angular increments that is determined by the control circuitryand which varies during successive playings of the slot machine 11.Referring again to FIG. 1, the angular increment through which each disk13, 14 and 15 is traveled during each step of the rotary movementcorresponds to the angular spacing of the centers of successive ones ofthe indicia 19 about the axis of rotation of the disks. Thus indicia 19of each disk 13, 14 and 15 are in alignment along radii of the axis ofrotation when the motors stop turning the disks. The presence ofparticular indicia 19 or combinations of indicia at payline 20 at thattime determines the player's winnings or score in the conventionalmanner.

Slot machine motor control circuits 54 which are microprocessorcontrolled require tracking of the rotary movement of the indiciacarrying rotatable members by the microprocessor 56. For this purpose,tracking means 57 are provided for generating repetitive electricalsignal pulses including first, second and third series of pulses each ofwhich is indicative of rotary motion of a separate one of the rotatabledisks 13, 14 and 15. Successive pulses in each series are produced inresponse to successive increments of rotary motion of the disk 13, 14 or15 that is being tracked by the particular series. In a manner known tothe art, this enables the microprocessor 56 to cause stopping ofrotation of the members at times when indicia are in alignment at thepayline and, by counting the pulses, to determine which indicia are atthe payline.

The tracking means 57 of this example of the invention operates byphotoelectric sensing of disk motion. Means 57 includes a bracket 58which extends forward from the front circular support plate 33, past theperipheries of each of the rotatable disks 13, 14 and 15, and into thefront structural member 41. Bracket 58 has pairs of spaced apart tangs59 and the tangs of each pair extend along opposite sides of the gearteeth 31 of a separate one of the rotatable disks 13, 14 and 15. Onetang 59 of each pair supports a small light source 61 positioned todirect light towards a light detector 62 supported by the other tang ofthe pair and which is at the other side of the gear teeth 31 of the disk13, 14 or 15 which extends between the pair of tangs. The light sources61 may be of any of a variety of types such as light emitting diodes forexample. The light detectors 62 may also be of any of a variety ofdifferent types, phototransistors and photodiodes being examples.

The gear teeth 31 of each rotatable disk 13, 14 and 16 repetitively passthrough the light path between the associated light source 61 and lightdetector 62. This causes the output signal of the detector 62 to switchrepetitively between a high condition and a low condition therebyproviding the desired series of rotary motion tracking signal pulses.For reasons to be hereinafter described, the rotatable disks 13, 14 and15 in their preferred form are made of translucent material. Ininstances where this results in an undesirably small variation of thelight detector 62 outputs in response to the passage of gear teeth 31,the sides of the gear teeth can be coated with paint or other opaquematerial. It is also possible to situate the light sources 61 anddetectors 62 at locations which are closer to the axis of rotation thanthe peripheral gear teeth 31. The disks 13, 14 and 15 may then beprovided with bands of light passages separated by relatively opaqueareas that travel between the light sources 61 and light detectors 62 asthe disks turn.

Movement of the rotatable disks 13, 14 and 15 in a direction parallel tothe axis of rotation 16 is prevented by pads 63 which are secured to theends of the tangs 59 of bracket 58. The pads 63 are preferably formed ofa low friction resilient material such as felt. The pads 63 at each pairof tangs 59 extend towards and bear against the sides of the disk 13, 14or 15 which extends between that pair of tangs. A pair of similarbrackets 58 a and 58 b having pads 63 extend from the front circularsupport plate 33 to restrain axial movement of the rotatable disks 13,14 and 15 at additional locations which are angularly spaced apartaround the axis of rotation 16 of the disks. The brackets 58, 58 a and58 b of this particular example of the invention are at 120° angularintervals around the axis of rotation 16.

Referring jointly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the hereinbefore describedconfiguration of the rotatable disks 13, 14 and 15 causes the indiciacarrying surfaces 17 of the three disks to be at progressively greaterdistances from the player of the slot machine 11. This creates a threedimensional effect that enhances player enjoyment of the gamingapparatus. This can be further enhanced by pulsed illumination at thethree indicia displaying surfaces 17. To enable such illumination, thedisks 13, 14 and 15 are formed of translucent plastic or othertranslucent material. Referring jointly to FIGS. 2 and 3, threeconcentric circular fluorescent light tubes 64 are situated behind thedisks 13, 14 and 15, the tubes being secured to the front circularsupport plate 33 by brackets 66. The fluorescent light tubes 64 arecentered on the axis of rotation 16 of disks 13, 14 and 15 and havediffering diameters. The outermost tube 64 has a diameter correspondingto the diameter of the indicia bearing surface 17 of the front disk 13,the middle tube 64 has a diameter corresponding to the diameter of theindicia bearing surface 17 of the intermediate disk 14 and the diameterof the innermost tube 64 corresponds to the diameter of the indiciabearing surface of the rear disk 15.

A light diffuser plate 67 extends between the fluorescent light tubes 64and the rear rotatable disk 15 to provide for a more uniformillumination of the indicia bearing surfaces 17 of the disks. Thediffuser plate 67 is supported by the previously described brackets 58,58 a and 58. As best seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the rim of diffuser plate67 has notches 68 to enable gear sets 32 a, 32 b and 32 c to be situatedat their previously described locations.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, strobing of the fluorescent lights 64on and off attracts the attention of potential players of the slotmachine 11 and contributes to player interest during pnlying of thegame. Rapid sequential strobing of the three lights 64 enhances thethree dimensional aspect of the indicia display at the face of the slotmachine.

The example of the invention described above with reference to FIGS. 1to 6 embodies a highly advantageous mechanism for supporting and drivingthe indicia carrying rotatable disks 13, 14 and 15. Both functions,supporting and driving, are effected with simple gear sets situated atthe periphery of the disks. This eliminates the complex and bulkytelescoped shafting and other components at the axis of rotation of thedisks which has heretofore been present in slot machines of this generaltype. The rim drive also makes it possible to include open centeredrotating disks which need not extend to the axis of rotation therebyenabling viewing of indicia bands of progressively smaller diameter thatare spaced apart along the axis of rotation of the disks. The disksupport and drive mechanism in the preferred form is easily removablefrom the slot machine cabinet as a unit to facilitate repairs.

While the rim driven construction discussed above constitutes thepreferred form of the invention, certain novel features of thepreviously described embodiment can advantageously be embodied inrotating disk slot machines which have center shafting for the purposeof supporting and driving the disks. This includes, for example, axialspacing of the rotating bands of indicia to provide a three dimensionalaspect to the indicia array as viewed by the player. FIGS. 7 and 8depict the disks and disk support and drive mechanism of a slot machine11 b of this kind.

Referring jointly to FIGS. 7 and 8, front, intermediate and rearrotatable disks 13 a, 14 a and 15 a respectively, of this embodiment areflat circular plates which are spaced apart along a common axis ofrotation 16 a. The disks 13 a, 14 a and 15 a have progressively greateroutside diameters thereby enabling viewing of an annular region 17 a ofthe front surface of each of the disks by a player who situated in frontof the slot machine which regions are at the radially outermost portionsof the disks. Annular bands of indicia 19 a of the previously describedkind are imprinted on the regions 17 a of the disks. An interestingeffect is created if the annular regions 17 a of the disks 13 a, 14 aand 15 a are beveled surfaces so that the indicia 19 a of the threedisks are in a coplanar or near coplanar relationship.

Rotatable disks 13 a, 14 a and 15 a are supported and separately rotatedby a drive system 69 which includes three coaxial drive shafts 71, 72and 73 of progressively shorter length. The back end of the inner driveshaft 71 extends out of intermediate drive shaft 72 and is supported bya first bearing 74 which is secured to one arm 76 of internal framing 77within the slot machine cabinet 21 a. The front end of inner drive shaft71 also extends out of the intermediate drive shaft 72 and has a flange79 seated in a conforming opening in a circular cap 81 which is in frontof the front disk 13 a. Screws 82 extend through the front disk 13 a andcap 81 and engage in flange 79 thereby constraining the disk to rotatewith the inner drive shaft.

A second bearing 83, supported by another framing arm 84, supports theintermediate drive shaft 72 at a location which is forward from the backend of the drive shaft 72. A flange 86 at the front end of intermediatedrive shaft 72, seats in a conforming opening in the intermediaterotatable disk 14 a and is secured to that disk by additional screws 87.The outer drive shaft 73 is supported at an intermediate location alongthe drive shaft by a third bearing 88 which is secured to another arm 89of the cabinet framing 77. A flange 91 at the front end of the outerdrive shaft 73 seats in a conforming opening in the rear rotatable disk15 a and screws 92 secure the rear disk to the flange.

Front rotatable disk 13 a, intermediate rotatable disk 14 a and rearrotatable disk 15 a are driven by separate electrical motors 93 a, 93 band 93 c respectively, motor 93 c being behind motor 93 b as seen inFIG. 7. The motors 93 a, 93 b and 93 c are secured to brackets 94 whichextend from framing 77. Referring again to FIGS. 7 and 8 in conjunction,motor 93 a is coupled to the inner drive shaft 71 by a drive belt 96which engages a pulley 97 that is keyed to the inner drive shaft at alocation adjacent to bearing 74. Another drive belt 98 couples motor 93b to the intermediate drive shaft 72 by engaging another pulley 99 whichis keyed to the intermediate drive shaft at a location which is betweenbearings 74 and 83. An annular collar 101 on intermediate drive shaft 72extends between pulley 99 and bearing 83 to prevent movement of thepulley along the shaft. The third motor 93 c is coupled to outer driveshaft 73 by a third drive belt 102 which engages another pulley 103 thatis keyed to the outer drive shaft at a location immediately behind thethird bearing 88. Another annular collar 104 is adjacent to pulley 103and is held in place by a set screw 106 to prevent axial movement of thepulley along the shaft. Drive belts 96, 98 and 102 are preferably of thenon-slip type which have teeth 107 that engage conforming grooves in thepulleys on which they are engaged.

Motors 93 a, 93 b and 93 c are brake gear motors of the stepping typesimilar to those of the previously described embodiment of the inventionand function in a similar manner to rotate each disk 13 a, 14 a and 15 athrough a predetermined number of angular increments that is determinedby the control circuit 54 a.

Three circular timer plates 108, 109 and 111 enable microprocessortracking of the rotary movement of the disks 13 a, 14 a and 15 a in thepreviously described manner. Timer plate 108 is disposed in coaxialrelationship with inner drive shaft 71 at a location between pulleys 97and 99 and is secured to an adjacent annular collar 112 which isconstrained to rotate with the inner drive shaft by a set screw 113.Timer plate 109 is disposed on intermediate drive shaft 72 in coaxialrelationship therewith at a location between timer plate 108 and pulley99 and is secured to another annular collar 114 which is constrained torotate with the intermediate drive shaft by another set screw 116. Thethird timer plate 111 is situated between pulley 103 and bearing 83, incoaxial relationship with the outer drive shaft 73, and is constrainedto rotate therewith by another annular collar 117.

The circular rim of each of the timer plates 108, 109 and 111 isindented by a series of notches 118 which have an angular spacingrelative to the axis of rotation that corresponds to the hereinbeforedescribed angular increment of rotary motion of the disks 13 a, 14 a and15 a. A separate one of three photoelectric sensors 119 is disposed atthe rim of each timer plate 108, 109 and 111 and may be of one of theknown types which have a small light source 121 such as a light emittingdiode for example and a light detector 122 such as a phototransistor forexample that produces an electrical signal in response to light from thesource. The light sources 121 and detectors 122 are at opposite sides ofthe rims of the timer plates 108, 109 and 111 at which notches 118 arelocated thereby causing light to be transmitted from the sources 121 tothe detectors 122 each time that a notch passes between the two. Thuseach sensor transmits an electrical pulse to the control circuit housing54 a each time that the associated timer plate 108, 109 or 111 isstepped through the above described angular increment of motion by theassociated drive motor 93 a, 93 b or 93 c. As previously described, thisenables the microprocessor 56 a to cause stopping of the rotation of thedisks 13 a, 14 a and 15 a at times when indicia are in alignment at thepayline and, by counting the pulses, to determine which indicia are atthe payline.

Components of the slot machine 11 a of FIGS. 7 and 8 which are notdepicted therein may be similar to those of the previously describedembodiment of the invention.

The invention is not limited to slot machines of the motor driven,microprocessor controlled type. Pulleys 97, 99 and 103 may, for example,be spun manually by the player preferably with lever arm operatedmechanism of the kind found in older forms of slot machine. Embodimentsof the invention of this kind do not necessarily require timer plates108, 109 and 111 and sensors 119.

In the embodiment of the invention which has been described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 6, visibility of indicia on disks which arebehind other disks is provided for by using disks which are opencentered except for the rear disk. In the embodiment which has beendescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, visibility of the successivebands of indicia is provided for by using disks of progressively greaterdiameter. Referring jointly to FIGS. 9 and 10, visibility of the bandsof indicia can also be realized in a construction where the rotatabledisks 13 b, 14 b and 15 b have the same outside diameter and are notnecessarily open centered. An advantage of disks which have the samediameter is that they may then be driven by simple gearing situated atthe periphery of the disks.

Disks 13 b, 14 b and 15 b carry annular bands of indicia 19 b ofprogressively smaller diameter and which may be of the previouslydescribed kind. The front disk 13 b, intermediate disk 14 b and reardisk 15 b each have gear teeth 31 b at the peripheries of the disk.Disks 13 b, 14 b and 15 b are supported by a vertically extendinginternal frame member 123 within the slot machine cabinet 21 b and arepositioned to be viewable through the transparent front window 22 b ofthe cabinet. In particular, an axle 124 extends forward from framemember 124 through the centers of the disks 13 b, 14 b and 15 b and hasa flange 126 at its forward end which acts to retain the disks on theaxle. Each of the disks 13 b, 14 b and 15 b is rotatable about axle 124and preferably a pair of thin, flat annular shims 127 encircle the axlebetween the disks, between front disk 13 b and flange 126 and betweenrear disk 15 b and frame member 124 to create a small spacing betweenthese components.

Disks 13 b, 14 b and 15 b are each driven by a separate electrical motor128 a, 128 b and 128 c respectively which motors are similar to thedrive motors of the previously described embodiments of the invention.Each such motor 128 a, 128 b and 128 c turns a shaft 129 that extends ina direction parallel to the axis of rotation 16 b of the disks and whichhas a spur gear 131 at its forward end which engages the gear teeth 31 bof the particular disk 13 b, 14 b and 15 b that is driven by theparticular motor. In this example, motor 128 b which drives theintermediate disk 14 b is situated directly below the axis of rotation16 b of the disks. Motor 128 b which drives the front disk 13 b andmotor 128 c which drives the rear disk 15 b are at opposite sides of theaxis of rotation 16 b and at a higher elevation.

Photoelectric sensors 119 b for producing signals that track rotation ofthe disks 13 b, 14 b, 15 b in the previously described manner do notnecessarily require timer plates of the previously described kind if thegear teeth 31 b of the disks are formed of opaque material or if theteeth have an opaque coating. The sensors 119 b may simply be positionedto direct light towards the gear teeth 31 b and to respond totransmission of light through the openings between successive gearteeth.

Appearance of the slot machine can be enhanced by providing an opaquemask 132 on the cabinet window 22 b that is configured to conceal theperipheral regions of the disks 13 b, 14 b, 15 b at which the gear teeth31 b are located.

The annular bands of indicia 19 b of the successive disks 13 b, 14 b and15 b are of progressively increasing diameter in this embodiment but canbe of progressively diminishing diameter in other embodiments. In eithercase, viewing of each of the bands of indicia 19 b is enabled by formingthe disks of transparent material such as transparent plastic or atleast the regions of the front disk 13 b and intermediate disk 14 b thatare in front of a band of indicia of another disk are formed of suchmaterial.

Except as herein described, the slot machine of FIGS. 9 and 10 may besimilar to the embodiment of the invention which has been previouslydescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

The embodiments of the invention which have been herein described forpurposes of example have rotating disks which extend in vertical planes.The disks and disk drive and support systems can be reoriented so thatthe disks extend in horizontal planes or have an inclined orientation.

The herein described examples of the invention are slot machines of thetype used in gambling casinos that require insertion of coins or papercurrency and which pay monetary rewards to successful players. Theapparatus can also be configured as an amusement device that does notrequire nor pay out money and wherein the player or players simply earnpoints when particular indicia come to rest at particular locations oralign in particular combinations at such locations.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain specificembodiments for purposes of example, many modifications and variationsare possible and it is not intended to limit the invention except asdefined in the following claims.

1. A gaming apparatus comprising: (A) a plurality of rotatable diskshaving a common axis of rotation, each of the rotatable disks: i. beingseparately roiatabie; ii. having a band of indicia thereon; iii. havinga peripheral region which is of greater diameter than the band ofindicia; and iv. having an annular band of gear teeth at the peripheralregion; (B) a plurality of drive gears, each drive gear engaged with theband of gear teeth of a rotatable disk; and (C) a plurality of drivemotors, each drive motor engaging a drive gear to turn the drive gear.